South Korea’s nationwide vaccination program will start as early as next month as the country’s coronavirus situation remains in its third and deadliest wave thus far, Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said Monday. Speaking at the central response team meeting, Chung said the government will do its best to ensure that the country has a detailed vaccination plan in place, covering all stages from shipment and storage to inoculation and aftercare, by the end of this month. He asked related ministries to cooperate closely so that the country does not run into any roadblocks in running the vaccination program, as have occurred in the United States and a number of European countries.

"That is not something we can afford to undergo for our own vaccination program that starts as early as next month," Chung said. "The plan needs to be finalized in detail by the end of this month, and preparations must be clearly shared with the people on the way." Korea has so far secured vaccine doses for 56 million people from five suppliers and is planning to start providing them to front-line medical workers and vulnerable people first. The first vaccine to be provided to Koreans will be the one from AstraZeneca, which is expected to be shipped around February or March. Those from Janssen and Moderna should follow in the second quarter, and others made by Pfizer and BioNTech in the third quarter. The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety on Monday started reviewing the approval application from AstraZeneca for its COVID-19 vaccine, which is expected to be met with approval within the next 40 days.